WHO IS A POLISHED MAN?

Being a Polished Man means you paint one fingernail and take a stand to protect the world's most vulnerable; children.

You don't shy away from difficult conversations or turn your back on an uncomfortable issue. You step up as a leader because violence is never acceptable. You lead by example and use your influence to raise funds and awareness to end violence against children for good.

4 End it.
Awareness is very important but donations allow us to have a real impact through trauma recovery and prevention services. If you need tips on how to ask for donations we have that covered too.

WHY NAIL POLISH?

It started with a girl named Thea.

When she was eight years old her father - the family's sole income earner - passed away leaving Thea and her family without any money. Thea's mother made the unbearable decision to send her to an orphanage hoping to give her safe refuge. Instead Thea was physically and sexually assaulted every day for two years by the very man who was supposed to be taking care of her.

YGAP's CEO Elliot Costello met Thea while visiting Polished Man partner Hagar International in Cambodia. She had recently been rescued and Elliot was one of the first westerners she'd met since. They bonded over naughts and crosses and when it came time to leave Thea took Elliot's hand and drew a love heart on his palm and then painted his fingernails blue. The next day Elliot heard Thea's story. On that day he made the decision to always paint one nail to remember her. When Elliot later heard that 1 child dies every 5 minutes as a result of violence - violence just like Thea had suffered - he took action.

WHERE DOES THE MONEY GO?

Our mission is to end violence against children for good. We don't want to create another Band-Aid solution; we want to have a lasting impact. That's why we focus on tackling a major root cause of violence against children: poverty.

The majority of children who fall victim to violence live without access to a quality education or health care services live in an unsafe home or have parents facing unemployment.

All funds raised through Polished Man are channeled into trauma recovery and trauma prevention programs for children who have suffered or are at risk of suffering violence globally.

These include YGAP impact entrepreneurs running ventures that target a major root cause of violence against children or provide emergency relief to those that have survived physical and/or sexual violence.

Funds are also channeled into some incredible work being carried out by the Australian Childhood Foundation Hagar Australia the New York Centre for Children and World Vision Australia.